January 28, 2020
My last name might confuse you, but I am, in fact, an American Jew through my mother. My mother’s maiden name is Robin and she was born and raised in Pittsburgh a few generations after our ancestors fled the pogroms of Czarist Russia. And my father came from an Episcopalian background. There was little religion in our home in New...
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January 22, 2020
In Judaism, it is our duty as human beings to perform mitzvot or acts of kindness. These acts of kindness elevate us, drawing us closer to G-d and to the purest and most authentic versions of ourselves. When we contribute to the well-being of society and strive to be the best versions of ourselves, we are practicing an act known...
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January 15, 2020
In 2016, Jenna McCoppin from Dallas, TX, decided the time was now or never to sign up for Birthright Israel. She knew this would be her last chance to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime gift, "It was important to me to take advantage of the opportunity, but there was also hope to find something that I had been searching for...
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January 14, 2020
The summer of 2019 was life-changing for collegiate snowboarder and contender for the 2022 Winter Olympics, Myles Silverman. Although Myles grew up in an interfaith home, he was raised predominantly Jewish. Judaism was always a part of Myles’ life as he attended Hebrew school up until 5th grade and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah when he turned 13. But as Myles...
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January 9, 2020
We asked recent alumnus, Nathan Tecotzky of Claremont, CA, what was the most important lesson you learned on Birthright Israel, and his answer is definitely worth sharing. If there's one major lesson I took away from going to Israel, it was the lesson of the importance of understanding. I have friends from Syria and Lebanon. And I have friends from...
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January 2, 2020
Everything changed after Birthright Israel. Judaism was pure boredom to me up until I stepped off the plane at Ben-Gurion Airport in 2014. I grew up in Florida and went to the University of South Florida, where I joined a Jewish sorority, with only four Jewish members. Chabad would ask me to attend Shabbat, and I honestly wanted to be...
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December 31, 2019
We want to take you back in time to the 15th century. Imagine a small village in Spain, with stone pathways, the smell of Pescado Frito coming from the windows on Friday afternoons and Ladino was spoken on the street corner. This was probably daily life for the Jews of Spain centuries ago, that was until they were forced to...
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December 30, 2019
Where I grew up in rural Oregon people denied the Holocaust. I experienced a lot of antisemitism from people who really had never met Jewish people. I don’t identify as being religious, but being Jewish is an important part of who I am. I remember that starting around when I was just about 7, other kids would tell me I...
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December 28, 2019
Nine years ago, Eren Niederhoffer of Atlanta, GA, met 15 other people who also have Autism as he boarded a 747 to Israel. He had the pleasure to highlight pivotal moments on Birthright Israel in an article in The Jewish Georgian in 2011. However, most importantly, in the years to come after his Birthright Israel trip, Eren’s experience will never...
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December 24, 2019
Judaism has been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Englewood, New Jersey and attended a Jewish day school my entire life. The significance of Israel was something I’ve been learning about since first grade and my family and many childhood friends travelled to Israel with their families at least...
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